Web feed means for rotary printing machines



Aug. 18, 1953 J. DUNGLER WEB FEED MEANS FOR ROTARY PRINTING MACHINES Filed July 29, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 I 4/ l EW TO/P:

O GP N. hm Q w? am? 9 Aug. 18, 1953 J. DUNGLER WEB FEED MEANS FOR ROTARY PRINTING MACHINES Filed July 29, 1948 4 Shee' tsSheet 2 IN 1057/ o)? Ju; 151v Dun g4 ER Aug. 18, 1953 J. DUNGLER WEB FEED MEANS FoR ROTARY PRINTING MACHINES Filed July 29, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 I /v I/EA/ 70R 301. 157V Dun/ 45 By m lw gg Aug. 18, 1953 J. DUNGLER 2,649,044

WEB FEED MEANS FOR ROTARY PRINTING MACHINES Filed July 29, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 l atenteci Aug. 18,

OFFICE WEB FEED MEANS FOR ROTARY PRINTING MACHINES Julien Dungler, Basel, Switzerland Application July 29, 1948, Serial No. 41,315 In France August 11, 1947 4 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in machines for printing cloth or like material in several colors. In machines of this type, the impression may become faulty, despite the accurate adjustment i. e. registering of the individual printing devices, owing to the fact that certain fibres of the cloth may undergo deformations, either due to the application of the color, or during an intermediate drying operation, and such deformation may alter the registering of the patterns.

In the printing machine according to the invention, which overcomes the above-mentioned drawback, the cloth to be printed is placed in permanent contact, while it is passing through the machine, over the whole of the treated surface, with a taut support which is very accurately guided so that it cannot undergo any deflection, the cloth being fixed to said support in such a manner that it cannot effect any movement relatively to the support.

According to another feature of the invention, the support is formed by an endless band passing between the printing roller or rollers and the presser roller or rollers.

The invention further contemplates means for tensioning the endless band forming a support, in the longitudinal direction and in the transverse direction.

According to another feature of the invention, the means for guiding the support are adjustable so as to enable the longitudinal tension and the transverse tension of the support to be independently adjusted to the desired value.

According to another feature of the invention, the support may be formed by an endless metal band which is preferably covered with a rubberized fabric adhering firmly to the metal, or with any other suitable material.

According to another feature of the invention, the support may be formed by an endless band of thick cloth which is preferably impregnated with rubber or with any other suitable material.

According to still another feature of the invention, the endless band of thick cloth is laterally guided and tensioned by two endless chains which are preferably mounted on anti-friction bearings and are guided by two rails, the transverse distance between which is adjustable.

According to another feature of the invention, the endless band passes, at the inlet and at the outlet of the machine, over a guiding and/or driving roller, the distance between the axes of these two rollers being adjustable so as to enable the band to be tensioned in the longitudinal direction.

According to another feature of the invention, the driving roller or rollers for the endless cloth band and the chains for the lateral guiding and tensioning of said band are driven from the same driving shaft.

According to another feature of the invention, the adhesion of the cloth to its support is favored by a sizing on the unprinted side of the cloth, which is effected either by means of a sizing device located at the inlet of the machine, or by previously applying sizing substance to the support before the cloth is pressed against same.

According to another feature of the invention, the endless band passes, during its return travel, through a cleaning and optionally drying device.

According to another feature of the invention, the peripheral speed of the printing and presser rollers is equal to the speed of translation of the support formed by the endless band.

According to another feature of the invention, the endless band travels in a plane which at the same time forms the plane of tangency between the printing and presser rollers.

According to a further feature of the invention, A

the cloth only rests against the endless band during the forward travel of same.

According to a still further feature of the invention, the endless band may also pass, during its return travel, between printing and presser rollers, in which case a presser roller preferably co-operates with two printing rollers respectively located above and below said presser roller in the same vertical plane which is at the same time at right angles to the planes in which the endless band travels.

Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent moreover from the ensuing description; reference will be made to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic elevational View of a printing machine A according to the invention combined with a drier B,

Fig. 1a is an elevational view of one of the printing devices on an enlarged scale, used in connection with the printing machine seen in Figs. 1, 5 and 7,

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the printing machine A and of the drier B of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is an end view on the outlet side of the printing machine A of Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 shows, on a larger scale, the lateral tensioning and guiding chains for an endless band of thick cloth.

Fig. 5 is a similar view to that of Fig. 1 of a modification wherein the return travel of the endless band is effected below the printing devices in which the positions of the printing rollers and the presser rollers are reversed relatively to those of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a similar view to that of Fig. 1, provided with intermediate driers between the individual printing devices.

Fig. 7 is a similar view to that of Fig. 6, but with the endless band passing on its return travel above the printing devices.

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view of an arrangement wherein the endless band passes on its forward and return travel between printingand presser rollers, and

Fig. 9 is a similar view to that of Fig. 8, of a. modification.

In these drawings, A denotes in a general man: ner a printing machine, the frame I of which supports a plurality of individual printing deevices 2, 3, l of which are adjustable to assume aligned position. Each printing device comprises a presser roller 5, a printing roller 6, in contact with a color trough 6e, and adjusting means i and =3 for registering the individual printing devices in transverse and longitudinal directions, respectively.

The adjusting means of all the individual printing devices may be actuated by means. of a pulley 9 driven from meansof a belt 10, by a drive shaft II.

The cloth [2 to be printed, which is contained in a trolley I3, first passes through a bar tensioning device M, then through selvedge-guides l5, and finally over deflecting rollers 16 and [,l.

While it is passing through the machine, the

cloth i2 is permanently in contact with a support formed by an endless band Hi. the latter passing over the rollers l9 and 28, respectively, located at the inlet and at the outletv of the machine.

The shaft of the roller 2a is. journalled in a stationary bearing 2|. Said roller is rotated by a pulley 22 which is driven, bymeans of a belt 23, by the driving shaft I [1.

The shaft of the roller I9,- is journalled. in a slide bearing 24 of a support, 2 4*. It is. thus pose sible to alter the distance between the guide roller and driving roller |9-and- 2!)- by varying the position of the sliding bearing- Zi in its, slide 24, thereby enabling the tension of the endless band 18 to be adjusted.

Before it comes into contact with the, support IS, the cloth passes over a pasting roll- 25 which dips in a paste trough 2-1; This device, isintended to size the cloth on the unprinted side so as to increase its adhesion tothe support It.

After it comes outof the printing machine A, the printed cloth l2 passes through a drier B wherein it is dried before being rolled or folded. Said drier may comprise a set of nozzle members 28 and 28 connected to fans containing blowing boxes SI and 32 which are respectively supplied with hot air. It should be noted that the space between the sets of nozzle members 28, and 28 may be so chosen as to enable the cloth to effect a double travel therein, first of all adjar. cent the nozzle members 28, then adjacent the nozzle members 28 which results in an increase in the, output.

After having left the drier B, the. cloth, [2 passes through a drawing device 33. and then through a folding device 34 and is collected ona trolley 35.

The endless band 13 cloth while said cloth isprinting machine A should forminga support v for the passing through the be of a certain rigidity while being of sufficient flexibility to enable it to pass over the guiding and driving rollers l 9 and 20. Said endless band may be formed by a metal band which is preferably covered with a rubberized fabric adhering firmly to the metal, or with any other suitable material capable of increasing the adhesion of the cloth to the support thus formed.

The endless band may also be made of a thick cloth which is preferably impregnated with rubber or with another material mainly comprising synthetic resin. In order to ensure the satisfactory usefulness of the cloth supporting band, the, same is, laterally tensioned by means of the arrangement shown in Fig. 4. The side edges of the endless band l8--l8 are pressed between jaws 38 which are secured to an endless chain 31. Said chain is guided by vertical rollers 38 and horizontal rollers 39,; respectively, rolling on lower and upper guide rails 41 and. iii. The transverse distance between the two upper rails 40, as well as that between the two lower rails. 45 is adjustable, which enables the transyerse .1 tension of the. endlessband to be adjusted, the

longitudinal tension of same being regulated and predetermined by the adjustment of the distance between the shafts of the guiding and. rollers l9. and 20. In, each pair of rails 40' i;flj

and il4l, one of the rails. can be moved away :'is fixed. a worm wheel 53 actuated by a worm shaft 54. The lower rail; 41. co-operates with: similar members 5| and 5,4. In order to ensure the same distance, between the upper rails and the lower rails, a transmission by means of pulleys 55,5i5. and a belt 51' makes the adjustments dependent upon one another.

The endless chains 31 are driven by sprocket wheels, 42, mounted on the sameshaft 20 as'the driving. roller 21} while the" guide chain sprockets 43 are located on the shaft 19 of the guideroller Hi. In this manner an absolute synchronism is obtained between the drive, of the endless band l8l8, and its lateral tension and guide chains The foregoing device operates asfolloyvs: the cloth 12,]whichis fed through; the tensioningdevice 14, the selvedge-guides 1'5 and the deflecting; rollers it and l lj, is pasted'on itsreverseface bythe pasting roll 26 before coming intocon-tact with the endless. band l8; In the machine; the cloth l2 adhering firmly to the endless band f8 passes successively through the individual printing devices t, 3 and; 2 i. e. between theprintingroller 6 and the press-er roller 5; of said devices.

In this manner, all the, fibresof thecloth retain their relative position throughout the" entire travel through the machine, so as to guarantee a correct, registering off the individualpatterns.

It should be noted that the endless band l8, with the cloth. I2 adhering thereto, travels in a plane which at the same time forms theplanecf' tangency between the printing and-presser-rollers 6 and 5 respectively; of the individual print-ing devices 4; 3 and 2 The printed cloth lZ 'comes out of the machine and. passes into. the drier B by means of deflect ing rollersv [6 The first portion of thetravel-of the, printed cloth, after; it has come out of'themachine, is so arranged that the operatorcanimmediately ascertain thev quality of the impres sion. The necessary corrections of the adjusts ment, i. e. registry, which are noticed can be effected by means of push-buttons 23* controlling the adjusting devices 1 and 8 of the individual printing devices 2, 3 and 4.

During its return travel l the endless band is cleaned and optionally dried by the device .25 before being used again as a support for the cloth to be printed, after passing over the guide roller 19.

The arrangement shown in Fig. 1, wherein the presser rollers 5 are arranged above the printing rollers 6, is particularly suitable for printing by means of engraved rollers. This, type of printing requires a fairly heavy pressure which can be readily obtained by arranging a presser roller of suitable weight above the engraved printing roller, and using hydraulic, mechanical, or electromagnetic pressure means. Furthermore, the lower position of the printing roller 6 enables the supply of color for same to be readily effected by simply making it dip in a color trough 6.

Instead of engraved printing rollers, it is also possible to use perforated printing rollers in which the color is supplied from inside, enabling an imitation of the so-called film printing to be obtained. This kind of printing requires a substantially lighter pressure than printing by means of engraved cylinders. In this case, it is preferable to reverse the position of the printing and the presser rollers, so as to arrange the presse rollers below the printing rollers.

Fig. 5 shows a machine of this type. As in the machine according to Fig. 1, the cloth 12 which leaves trolley l3 passes through the tensioning device I 4, the selvedge-guides l5 and the pasting roll 26 and is pressed against the endless band I8. But contrary to the arrangement of Fig. 1, the position of the printing and the presser rollers is reversed in the printing devices 4, 3, 2 so that the printing rollers 6 are located above the band l8 and the cloth I2 pressed against same, while the presser rollers 5 are arranged below the endless band l8. Owing to the fact that the printing rollers 6 occupy the upper position, their supply of color is effected by a special feed device 44 instead of being effected by dipping as in the machine of Fig. 1.

The arrangement of Fig. 5 furthermore differs from that of Fig. l by the fact that the return I8 of the endless band 18 is effected below the individual printing devices 2, 3, 4. Consequently, the cleaning device 25 is also arranged at the lower part of the machine.

The operation of the arrangement shown in Fig. 5 is identical to that explained with reference to Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 shows a machine which differs from that of Fig. 5 in that individual driers 45 are provided after each individual printing device 4, 3, 2, since the drying of each color immediately after it has been printed has the advantage of preventing smearing when another color is consecutively printed and of retaining a greater brilliance of the color thus fixed. Furthermore, the cloth is fed under similar conditions of dryness to each individual printing device. This method enables the supply of color to be increased and thereby facilitates film printing, and also printing that imitates film printing, obtained by means of an engraved cylinder.

The driers 45 may be of any suitable type, either with blowing nozzle members similar to those of the drier B of Fig. 1, or with electric or gas lamps, or operating by means of ,infra-' red or other radiations.

After having left the machine of Fig.6, the printed cloth may further pass through a drier of the B type of Fig. 1.

It should be noted that in the machine of Fig. 6, the printing rollers also occupy the upper position.

Fig. 7 shows a modification which is also provided with intermediate driers, but which differs from the machine of Fig. 6 in that the printing rollers 6 occupy the lower position as in the embodiment of Fig. 1.

Consequently, the intermediate drying devices 46 which are located after each individual printing device 4, 3, 2 are reversed relatively to those of Fig. 6; furthermore the return of the endless band [8 is effected above the printing devices.

Theoperation of the machine according to Fig. 7 is identical to that of the previous embodiments.

Fig. 8 shows diagrammatically an arrangement of the endless band I8 wherein said band passes, both during its forward travel and its return travel, over rollers 19, 20 and between the printing rollers 6 and the presser rollers 5 of the individual printing devices 2, 3, 4, 2 3 4, schematically indicated thereby enabling the number of colors successively printed to be increased without increasing the size of themachine. a r

Fig. 9 shows schematically a modification of the arrangement of Fig. 8, wherein one and the same presser roller 48 co-operates with an upper printing roller 49 and a lower printing roller 50, the endless band l8 and the cloth l2 resting on same passing during their forward travel between the presser roller 48 and the lower printing roller 50, and during their return travel between the same presser roller 48 and the upper printing roller 49.

The diameters of the presser rollers 48 of the guide rollers and driving rollers, I9 and 20 respectively, of the endless band 18 may be equal or different.

Of course, the embodiments hereinbefore described and illustrated in the drawings are only given by way of non-limitative examples, and it is possible to alter in any suitable manner the shape, the nature, the arrangement and the mounting of their elements, without exceeding the scope of the invention.

Thus, the guiding of the cloth to be printed may be effected in a different manner to the one illustrated, for example by replacing the tensioning device by an equalizing tenter. Furthermore, the individual printing devices and also the intermediate driers and the drier B may be of any suitable type.

Owing to the arrangement of the machine according to the invention, it is possible to obtain:

1. A perfect disposition of the cloth on the support formed by the endless band l8.

2. An absolute rigidity and accuracy of movement of said support owing to the means enabling the support to be tensioned at will in the longitudinal, as well as in transverse directions of the printing devices relative to the cloth or other sheet material.

3. An easy and permanent registry.

4. The elimination of the usual doubler.

5. A great simplification of operation and adjustment of the support.

6. A considerable increase in output, particu.

larly :in the *type of printing imitating the film printing.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed asnewand-idesired'to be seciired by -Lc'tters Patent, is:

1. A machine for continuously printing cloth or =other'sheet material, comprising in combination a plurality of printing devices, an endless support in the form of a band travelling through said devices, means for iguiding said support along its travel to prevent deflection thereof, means on-said support fixing said "cloth to said support in such a manner that it substantiallyip'revente'cl in longitudinal as well as in transverse directions of its travel from displacement relative to said support, respective ineans adaptedto tension-said endless support in longitudinal and transverse directions thereof and independently of its travel, said means for tensioning said support in transverse direction thereof including gripping means for engaging the lateral edges of said band, chain means connected to said gripping means, and rail means supporting said chain means and arranged 'for displacement and adjustment along a path extending substantially angular to the direction of the 'travel 'of said band.

-2. A printing machine according to claim '1 in which said means for guiding said support include sprocket wheels for engagement with said chain means.

3. '-A printing machine according to claim 1, in which said rail means include extension means, and means engaging said extensionmeans for displacing the latter together with said rail means along said path.

4. In a machine for continuously printing cloth and like slit-let material; the combination of an eloiigat'ed nfdles's binl for supportingsaid cloth to lee printed and adapfited for movement in longitudinal direction of said band,means joining said izlb'th to said scene, mans for g ripping said ht lateral edges thereof and for guiding the nane eating it's movement, means deems-wen connected to said gripping means and guide means and adapted to displace the latter ior tensibm'ng s'aid band in a direction transverse of 'i-ts 'm'ovem'ent, spaced apart and ad'- justably supported somer means adapted to tension said band in longitudinal direction, means ositioned on the axes and'latr "Ly of "said roner means, respectively, and engaging said guide means for moving said :loa'nd.

-DI TNGLER.

References Cited the fi'le "of this patent Number Name "Date 971,146 Von Glahn NOV. 29, 1910 1,315,377 McGiehan 'Sept. -i919 1,763,735 wyiioin Tune 1"7, 1'930 ISB LUQS Wainwright an. June Y6, T934 1,999,515?) Tcheohon'in Apr. '3U,-135 2,017,766 wheelwright et a1. Octfffi, 1'93'5 2084,82? "Schwartz June 22,193'7 2,175,051 Bromley Oct. 3,1939 '2,2'l'7 ,f33 Overlack Oct. 8,1941) 2,369,290 Foard Feb. "13, "1945 ZFQRE'EIGN JPATENTS Num'iier 7 Country Date 406328 Great Britain 'l\7Iar. "a, 1934 158,521, Australia Apr. "25, 19-40 

